4 MANUAL OF MICROBIOLOGICAL METHODS 



and discussed improvements that might be made. This paper is available for those 

 desiring more detail concerning this early history than is given here. 



As the society felt that further modifications were now needed, a new committee 

 was appointed in 1911 consisting of F. P. Gorham, C. E. A. Winslow, Simon Flexner, 

 H. A. Harding, and E. O. Jordan. This committee gave a report at the 1913 meeting, 

 presenting a chart which was put on sale by the society but was not officially endorsed. 

 As this committee was unable to continue the work, an entirely new one was appointed 

 at this time consisting of H. A. Harding, H. J. Conn, Otto Rahn, W. D. Frost, and 

 L. J. Kligler. This committee soon lost Dr. Rahn, who left the country in 1914, and 

 M. J. Prucha was added in his place. The committee was called the Committee on 

 Revision of the Chart for the Identification of Bacterial Species. 



The new committee was instructed by the society to make a conservative revision 

 of the chart and at the same time to draw up a manual of methods to be used in connec- 

 tion with it. At the 1914 meeting of the society, therefore, a chart was presented for 

 approval, much like the 1907 chart except for its more logical arrangement of data. 

 This chart was given the society's endorsement and was issued during 1915. 



The 1914 chart was printed on a sheet with its back entirely blank, the glossary 

 previously on the back having been omitted. The committee gave as the reason for 

 this that the glossary would be included in the manual on methods shortly to be pub- 

 lished. The publication of this manual was delayed, however, pending investigation 

 of the methods to be included in it. This investigation of methods was to be under- 

 taken not only for the sake of the manual but also as a preliminary step toward radical 

 revision of the chart, which was felt to be badly needed. Early in 1917, however, and 

 before this program could be carried out, the chairman of the committee was forced 

 by pressure of other duties to drop the work. As he wished to remain on the commit- 

 tee, however, no change in membership was made, but H. J. Conn was asked to 

 become chairman. 



The committee then undertook the first step toward the preparation of a manual on 

 methods. A report was presented at the 1917 meeting, giving the methods recom- 

 mended at that time for use with the chart. The report was printed in the Journal of 

 Bacteriology, March, 1918, and was subsequently sold by the society in the form of 

 reprints. This report was considered a preliminary manual on methods. 



The committee proposed at the same time a much simplified chart in the form of a 

 four-page folder, which it recommended for use in instruction until the official chart 

 could be given the revision it needed. This chart was not endorsed by the society 

 but was printed and sold by the society for two or three years. 



This same committee (but now called the Committee on the Descriptive Chart) 

 issued another report on methods which appeared in the Journal of Bacteriology, 

 March, 1919, dealing with the gram stain, production of acid, and the reduction of 

 nitrates. At the 1919 meeting it issued a further report which appeared in the Journal 

 of Bacteriology in two parts, March and May, 1920. The first part of the report was 

 a revision of the one which had been published in March, 1918, and was sold as a 

 revised manual of methods until the reprints were exhausted in 1922. 



At the 1920 meeting the Committee on the Descriptive Chart was discharged with 

 the understanding that its functions would be taken over by a committee of broader 

 scope then appointed and called the Committee on Bacteriological Technic. This 

 committee was appointed with the understanding that its membership should fluctu- 

 ate from year to year in order to keep on it men actively interested in the work. 



The new committee made a further revision of the chart, which was presented at the 

 1920 meeting and endorsed by the society. Later editions of this chart have been 

 drawn up by the committee but have not been submitted to the society for oflJicial 

 endorsement. In order to avoid committing the society in favor of any of the methods 



